Master John of Arderne (1307–1380): a founder of modern surgery

AbstractBackground:  John of Arderne (1307–1380) was one founder of surgery as the profession is known today. He was the first English surgeon of whom biographic details survive. Born on the Arderne Estates at Newark, England, he served as a military surgeon in France in campaigns where gunpowder was used in combat for the first time. His best‐known work, the Practica (De Arte Phisicali et de Cirurgia), formed the basis of practical surgical teaching in the medical schools of medieval Europe.Method:  Biographic research of primary and secondary archives and documents.Results:  John of Arderne's surgical practice was undertaken against a background of turbulent political, military and medical events. He survived the Black Death (1347) and its cyclical recurrences. He lived through the turbulent reigns of Edward II and Edward III and practised in London in the decades preceding the simmering unrest which preceded the Peasant's Revolt of 1381. Surgical and medical practice in the late Middle Ages was enmeshed in astrological beliefs. It was greatly influenced by church doctrine of disease causation.Conclusion:  In this paper, the known details of John of Arderne's life are placed in t